Men’s brackets set for 2021 Sun Belt Conference Basketball Championship

NEW ORLEANS – Seeds and matchups for the 2021 Sun Belt Conference Men’s Basketball Championship, presented by First Bank and Trust, were announced Sunday.

The Sun Belt Conference Tournament will be held in Pensacola, Fla. March 5-8 with all 12 teams competing in the single-elimination tournament. Tournament games will be played at the Pensacola Bay Center and Pensacola State College.

The West Division’s top team Texas State (18-6, 12-3 Sun Belt) ended their regular season with a seven-game winning streak. The Bobcats won their first ever Sun Belt regular season title based on best winning percentage in conference play (.800). They earned a number one seed and a first-round bye. Georgia State (14-5, 8-4), winners of six in a row, are the number one seed from the East Division.

Coastal Carolina and Louisiana earned number two seeds and also have first-round byes.

The tournament opens with first-round games on Friday, March 5, quarterfinal games on Saturday, March 6 and semifinal games on Sunday, March 7. The championship game will be played Monday, March 8 at 6 p.m. CT/7 p.m. ET.

The first-round, quarterfinal and semifinal games will be televised live on ESPN+ with Monday’s championship game slated for ESPN2. All tournament games are available through the ESPN App, accessible on computers, smartphones, tablets and connected devices. Live statistics are available on SunBeltSports.org.

COVID note: there will be no reseeding based on a team’s inability to participate. If a team is unable to play, their opponent will advance to the next round via the no-contest rule.

Tickets for games at the Pensacola Bay Center are available through Ticketmaster.

Follow #SunBeltMBB on social media via Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and on our Championship page.

2021 SUN BELT MEN’S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

First Round – Friday, March 5
Game 1 – (4W) Arkansas State vs. (5E) Georgia Southern (ESPN+), 5 p.m. PSC
Game 2 – (3E) South Alabama vs. ULM (ESPN+), 5:30 p.m. PBC
Game 3 – (3W) UTA vs. (6E) Troy (ESPN+), 8 p.m. PBC
Game 4 – (4E) App State vs. (5W) Little Rock (ESPN+), 7:30 p.m. PSC

Quarterfinals – Saturday, March 6
Game 5 – Game 1 Winner vs. (1E) Georgia State (ESPN+), 5:30 p.m. PBC
Game 6 – Game 2 Winner vs. (2W) Louisiana (ESPN+), 5 p.m. PSC
Game 7 – Game 3 Winner vs. (2E) Coastal Carolina (ESPN+), 7:30 p.m. PSC
Game 8 – Game 4 Winner vs. (1W) Texas State (ESPN+), 8 p.m. PBC

Semifinals – Sunday, March 7
Game 9 – Game 5 Winner vs. Game 6 Winner (ESPN+), 5:30 p.m. PBC
Game 10 – Game 7 Winner vs. Game 8 Winner (ESPN+), 8 p.m. PBC

Championship Game – Monday, March 8
Game 11 – Game 9 Winner vs. Game 10 Winner (ESPN2), 6 p.m. PBC

PBC = Pensacola Bay Center
PSC = Pensacola State College

All times are central and subject to change.